Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial
Background: Depression and anxiety are common, disabling and chronic. Self-guided internet-delivered treatments are popular, but few people complete them. New strategies are required to realise their potential.Aims: To evaluate the effect of automated emails on the effectiveness, safety, and accepta...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Public Library of Science
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4328 |
| _version_ | 1848744485023907840 |
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| author | Titov, N. Dear, B. Johnston, L. Lorian, C. Zou, J. Wootton, B. Spence, J. McEvoy, Peter Rapee, Ronald |
| author_facet | Titov, N. Dear, B. Johnston, L. Lorian, C. Zou, J. Wootton, B. Spence, J. McEvoy, Peter Rapee, Ronald |
| author_sort | Titov, N. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: Depression and anxiety are common, disabling and chronic. Self-guided internet-delivered treatments are popular, but few people complete them. New strategies are required to realise their potential.Aims: To evaluate the effect of automated emails on the effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of a new automated transdiagnostic self-guided internet-delivered treatment, the Wellbeing Course, for people with depression and anxiety.Method: A randomised controlled trial was conducted through the website: www.ecentreclinic.org. Two hundred and fifty seven people with elevated symptoms were randomly allocated to the 8 week course either with or without automated emails, or to a waitlist control group. Primary outcome measures were the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7).Results: Participants in the treatment groups had lower PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores at post-treatment than controls. Automated emails increased rates of course completion (58% vs. 35%), and improved outcomes in a subsample with elevated symptoms.Conclusions: The new self-guided course was beneficial, and automated emails facilitated outcomes. Further attention to strategies that facilitate adherence, learning, and safety will help realise the potential of self-guided interventions. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:02:12Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-4328 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:02:12Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-43282017-09-13T14:44:01Z Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial Titov, N. Dear, B. Johnston, L. Lorian, C. Zou, J. Wootton, B. Spence, J. McEvoy, Peter Rapee, Ronald Background: Depression and anxiety are common, disabling and chronic. Self-guided internet-delivered treatments are popular, but few people complete them. New strategies are required to realise their potential.Aims: To evaluate the effect of automated emails on the effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of a new automated transdiagnostic self-guided internet-delivered treatment, the Wellbeing Course, for people with depression and anxiety.Method: A randomised controlled trial was conducted through the website: www.ecentreclinic.org. Two hundred and fifty seven people with elevated symptoms were randomly allocated to the 8 week course either with or without automated emails, or to a waitlist control group. Primary outcome measures were the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7).Results: Participants in the treatment groups had lower PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores at post-treatment than controls. Automated emails increased rates of course completion (58% vs. 35%), and improved outcomes in a subsample with elevated symptoms.Conclusions: The new self-guided course was beneficial, and automated emails facilitated outcomes. Further attention to strategies that facilitate adherence, learning, and safety will help realise the potential of self-guided interventions. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4328 10.1371/journal.pone.0062873 Public Library of Science fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Titov, N. Dear, B. Johnston, L. Lorian, C. Zou, J. Wootton, B. Spence, J. McEvoy, Peter Rapee, Ronald Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial |
| title | Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial |
| title_full | Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial |
| title_fullStr | Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial |
| title_short | Improving Adherence and Clinical Outcomes in Self- Guided Internet Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial |
| title_sort | improving adherence and clinical outcomes in self- guided internet treatment for anxiety and depression: randomised controlled trial |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4328 |